Container

ABSTRACT

A container, consisting of a container body and a lid connected to it, the container body and lid being manufactured separately. Wherein the container body has a recess or projection in or on its outer wall adjacent to its dispensing aperture, and the lid has a connecting land extending outwards from its peripheral rim, with a projection or recess provided at the end of the land distal from the lid, which can be brought into engagement with the recess or the projection on the container body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national stage filing of PCT/EP2003/010457 filedSep. 19, 2003 claiming priority to DE 102 46 086.8 filed Oct. 2, 2002.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a container, consisting of a container body anda lid connected to it.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The state of the art describes a wide variety of containers of variousforms, such as bottles, tubes, tubular containers, etc., in which thedispensing aperture is closed with a lid, especially a snap-fit lid. Afundamental distinction is made here between containers in which thecontainer body and lid are separate from one another in the non-closedstate, i.e. the lid no longer has any connection with the container bodyafter opening, and those containers, in which there is still aconnection between the lid and the container body in the opened state.

In the latter case, this connection can be made in a variety of ways.One preferred possibility, especially in the case of tubular containers,is to form the container body and lid integrally. These integralembodiments are usually manufactured by injection moulding. In thiscase, it is inevitable that the container body and lid are made from thesame material.

One example of the container type mentioned can be found in DE 44 12 907C1. A further example and, in particular, a more advanced manufacturingprocess is disclosed in WO 99/00238.

In order to ensure that the lid is hinged to the container body in sucha way that it is possible to open and close the container frequentlywith no problems, i.e. that the plastic film hinge between the containerbody and lid is, on the one hand, sufficiently stable, and, on the otherhand, sufficiently flexible (a “living hinge” as it is called),particular measures are necessary in the choice of material and in themanufacturing process, such as those described in WO 99/00238. It is,for example, customary to use certain additives in order to control theproperties of the plastics material in such a way as to ensure that thehinge is sufficiently flexible. It is also meaningful, as likewisedescribed in WO 99/00238, to engage the lid with the container bodybefore the plastic has finally cured.

If, in order to avoid these disadvantages, one reverts to the two-partdesign of the container body and lid, there is, on the other hand, thedisadvantage that, once the container has been opened, the lid mightfall off or be lost. If, despite having the lid and container bodyformed separately, a connection between the container body and lid isstill intended even when the container is in the open condition, thelatter is in most cases too unstable or aesthetically unacceptable inthe prior-art embodiments.

The object of the invention is therefore to create a container of thegeneric type in which the connection between the container body and lidis more stable and reliable than what was known in the state of the art.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This object is achieved, in accordance with the invention, by means of acontainer of the generic type, comprising a container body and a lidconnected to it, wherein the container body and lid are manufacturedseparately, the container body having a recess or projection in or onits outer wall adjacent to its dispensing aperture, and the lid having aconnecting land extending outwards from its peripheral rim, with aprojection or recess provided at the end of the land distal from thelid, which can be brought into engagement with the recess or theprojection on the container body.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that theend of the connecting land distal from the lid is designed such that, inthe assembled state, said end lies substantially flat against the outerwall of the container body.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that thecontainer body is formed substantially cylindrical and the lidsubstantially round.

The invention further provides that a hinged connection is provided inthe region of the connecting land of the lid.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the container body and/orthe lid consist substantially completely of plastics material, thecontainer body preferably consisting of a different plastics materialfrom the lid.

The container body and/or lid are preferably produced by injectionmoulding in this case.

The container of the invention unites the advantages of the knowntwo-part container type with those of the known one-part type. Theinvention provides a container with a stably hinged lid, which remainsfirmly connected to the container body even when the container is in theopened state. On the other hand, it is possible, by manufacturing thecontainer body and lid separately, to choose different materials forthese two components. In this way, it is only necessary, for example,for the plastics material for the lid to contain additives which make itpossible to achieve enhanced flexibility in the region of the hingedconnection, e.g. a film hinge, such as certain plasticisers, whereasthese additives are not necessary for the container body, which reducesthe costs significantly. Furthermore, with separate production, it isalso possible to design the container body and lid differently in color,surface structure, etc. In addition, it is conceivable to providedifferently designed lids for the same kind of container body, withoutit being necessary to change the mould for the production of thecontainer body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following example, one preferred embodiment of the invention willnow be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawingin which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a container body forthe container of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a lid suitable for the container body of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-section though the lid of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a container body 10 with a substantially cylindrical basicshape. At one end, the container body 10 has a dispensing aperture 12,whereas the other end 13 of the container body 10 is closed. Adjacent tothe dispensing aperture 12, a peripheral flange 15 is formed on theouter wall 14 of the container body 10, which has a recess 16 in oneportion.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show a lid 20 suitable for connecting with thecontainer body according to FIG. 1. The lid 20 is designed substantiallyround and has an internal diameter which corresponds approximately tothe external diameter of the container body 10, so that it is possibleto seal the dispensing aperture 12 of the container body 10 simply bypressing on the lid 20. At its peripheral rim 21, the lid 20 has a tab22 (which can be of any design), which serves in particular to open thecontainer. Opposite the tab 22, at the peripheral rim 21 of the lid 20,there is provided a connecting land 24 extending outwards from said rim,the land having the material with a thinner portion (in a positionsubstantially central and transverse to its radial extent), said thinnerportion having the function of a film hinge 25. At the end 26 of theconnecting land 24 distal from the lid, there is provided a projection27, which runs substantially perpendicularly to the connecting land 24.The end 26, or the projection 27, are slightly curved in the transversedirection, namely corresponding to the curvature of the outer wall 14 ofthe container body 10. At the outer ends of the projection 27, engaginglugs 28 can preferably be provided.

After the container body 10 and lid 20 have been manufacturedseparately, they can be assembled into the complete container at anysuitable time by inserting the projection 27 into the recess 16 andanchoring it there by means of the engaging lugs 28. In this way, a firmconnection is created between the container body and the lid. The lid 20can be swivelled about the film hinge 25 in such a way that a secureclosure of the dispensing aperture 12 in the container body 10 isachieved. In this context, the peripheral flange 15 can serve as a stopfor the lid 20.

As an alternative, it is of course also possible to have a recessprovided at the end of the connecting land 24, which is guided via aprojection disposed on the outer wall of the container body in a similarposition to the recess 16 in FIG. 1 and engages there in a similarmanner.

It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to cylindricalcontainer bodies and round lids. On the contrary: any cross-section isconceivable, as long as it is only ensured that the lid is designed suchthat it is possible to seal the dispensing aperture of the containerbody.

The invention will now be further explained with reference to thefollowing example.

EXAMPLE

The material used both for the container body and for the lid ispolypropylene, which can be processed in the range from 200 to 300° C.In order to facilitate the formation of the film hinge on the connectingland of the lid, the polypropylene for the lid can also have aconventional commercially available plasticiser added to it.

The container body, which is cylindrical in the case of this example,and the rounded lid, the dimensions of which have been adapted to thebody shape, are produced in two separate moulds, with a plurality ofeach part being contained in a mould. A conventional injection mouldingprocess is used for production.

After the injection process, the parts are ejected mechanically onto abelt by means of a scraper. The two parts are delivered separately to anassembly station, where they are aligned and subjected to a handlingprocess in which the two parts are brought together. After that, theclosure is performed mechanically. The injection moulding step andsubsequent processing can be carried out completely independently of oneanother.

The features of the invention disclosed in the above description, and inthe claims and drawings can be essential for implementing the inventionin its various embodiments both individually and in any combination.

1. A container, comprising: a container body and a lid connected to it,the container body and lid being manufactured separately; the containerbody having a recess or projection in or on its outer wall adjacent toits dispensing aperture; and the lid having a connecting land extendingoutwards from its peripheral rim, with a projection or recess providedat the end of the land distal from the lid, which can be brought intoengagement with the recess or the projection on the container body. 2.The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the recess and theprojection are shaped such that the projection engages firmly in therecess (16).
 3. The container as claimed in claims 1, wherein the end ofthe connecting land distal from the lid is designed such that, in theassembled state, said end lies substantially flat against the outer wallof the container body.
 4. The container as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe container body is formed substantially cylindrical and the lidsubstantially round.
 5. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein ahinged connection is provided in the region of the connecting land ofthe lid.
 6. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the containerbody and/or the lid consist substantially of plastics material.
 7. Thecontainer as claimed in claim 6, wherein the container body consists ofa different plastics material from the lid.
 8. The container as claimedin claim 6, wherein the container body and/or the lid are produced byinjection moulding.